Polonia, Biscuits, Polski's: A Polish Journey

I set out this morning to write my review of Biscuits, a relatively new restaurant in Longwood that was opened by the owners of Polonia, the Polish restaurant that closed recently.

Instead of my review, I have to tell you that Biscuits is no more. The restaurant is still open, but place a call there -- as I just did to get some background information for the review -- and the phone will be answered, "Polski's Biscuits Restaurant."

The good news in all of this is that Polonia is returning, but under a different name (because of a bankruptcy filing, the name could not be reused). Rob Plummer, who owns the restaurant with Marek Andruniow, told me that they opened Biscuits in a former Dan's Family Restaurant space in a strip mall behind Polonia in December. Biscuits, which she described as an American diner, didn't do too well, so they combined the two restaurants into Biscuits' space. Polonia closed in April.

The Biscuits sign is still out front, but Polski's Polish Restaurant will soon replace it, said Plummer.

The former Polonia, which is a freestanding building closer to US Highway 17-92, will be a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho 4 U. (Plummer said that the owner of that business has been very nice. "She keeps sending people to us who show up at her restaurant looking for kielbasa.")

Polonia was open in Longwood for 10 years before it closed in April. Prior to that, it was on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park in the space where Anna's, also a Polish restaurant, lives.

But Polonia was started before that, in Key West, where it was one of the first in that city's Bahama Village development. As coincidence would have it, when Polonia moved out, a new restaurant called Santiago's Bodega moved in. Santiago's, of course, eventually opened a second location in Orlando and now also has one in Altamonte Springs.

Want a little more history? The restaurant that occupied the Polonia space in Longwood before Andruniow and Plummer moved in was Puerto Chino, a combination of Puerto Rican and Chinese cuisines.

My review of Biscuits, by the way, would have been positive, even as I pointed out the odd juxtaposition of such items as goulash, pierogi and paprikash next to country fried steak and grilled meatloaf.

Plummer said the menu will be changed to be more Polish -- the Polish beers are returning, too -- but maybe not entirely. "That meatloaf is very popular," she said.